| Tourney Name: | Copa Sudamericana de Clubes |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Other Titles: | Copa Nissan Sudamericana de Clubes 2010 Copa Nissan Sul-americana da Clubes 2010 |
| Dates: | 3 August – 8 December |
| Num Teams: | 39 |
| Associations: | 10 |
| Champion Other: |  Independiente |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second Other: |  Goiás |
| Matches: | 76 |
| Goals: | 205 |
| Top Scorer: | Rafael Moura (8 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2009 |
| Nextseason: | 2011 |
The 2010 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2010 Copa Nissan Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of CONMEBOL's secondary international club tournament. The winner qualified for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, the 2011 Recopa Sudamericana, and the 2011 Suruga Bank Championship. LDU Quito was the defending champion.
Starting with this edition, each country gained an additional berth, with the exception of Argentina and Brazil. Boca Juniors and River Plate were no longer invited to the competition without merit.[1]
| width=100 | Association | width=210 | Team (berth) | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Banfield (Argentina 1) | 2009–10 Primera División 1st place overall | ||
| Argentinos Juniors (Argentina 2) | 2009–10 Primera División 2nd place overall | |||
| Estudiantes (Argentina 3) | 2009–10 Primera División 3rd place overall | |||
| Newell's Old Boys (Argentina 4) | 2009–10 Primera División 4th place overall | |||
| Independiente (Argentina 5) | 2009–10 Primera División 5th place overall | |||
| Vélez Sársfield (Argentina 6) | 2009–10 Primera División 6th place overall | |||
 Bolivia | San José (Bolivia 1) | 2009 Apertura 3rd place | ||
| Oriente Petrolero (Bolivia 2) | 2009 Clausura 3rd place | |||
| Universitario de Sucre (Bolivia 3) | 2010 Apertura Loser's Hexagonal winner | |||
| Brazil | Palmeiras (Brazil 1) | 2009 Série A 5th place | ||
| Avaí (Brazil 2) | 2009 Série A 6th place | |||
| Atlético Mineiro (Brazil 3) | 2009 Série A 7th place | |||
| Grêmio (Brazil 4) | 2009 Série A 8th place | |||
| Goiás (Brazil 5) | 2009 Série A 9th place | |||
| Grêmio Prudente (Brazil 6) | 2009 Série A 11th place | |||
| Santos (Brazil 7) | 2009 Série A 12th place | |||
| Vitória (Brazil 8) | 2009 Série A 13th place | |||
| Chile | Unión San Felipe (Chile 1) | 2009 Copa Chile champion | ||
| Colo-Colo (Chile 2) | Best-placed team after Round 1 of the 2010 Primera División | |||
| Universidad de Chile (Chile 3) | 2010 Copa Sudamericana playoff winner | |||
 Colombia | Deportes Tolima (Colombia 1) | 2009 Primera A 2nd best-placed non-champion | ||
| Santa Fe (Colombia 2) | 2009 Copa Colombia champion | |||
| Atlético Huila (Colombia 3) | 2009 Primera A 3rd best-placed non-champion | |||
 Ecuador | LDU Quito (O8) | 2009 Copa Sudamericana champion | ||
| Emelec (Ecuador 1) | 2010 Serie A first stage winner | |||
| Barcelona (Ecuador 2) | 2010 Serie A first stage 3rd place | |||
| Deportivo Quito (Ecuador 3) | 2010 Serie A first stage 4th place | |||
| Paraguay | Cerro Porteño (Paraguay 1) | 2009 Primera División best-placed champion | ||
| Olimpia (Paraguay 2) | 2009 Primera División 2nd best non-champion | |||
| Guaraní (Paraguay 3) | 2009 Primera División 3rd best non-champion | |||
 Peru | Sport Huancayo (Peru 1) | 2009 Descentralizado 2nd best-placed non-finalist | ||
| Universidad San Martín (Peru 2) | 2009 Descentralizado 3rd best-placed non-finalist | |||
| Universidad César Vallejo (Peru 3) | 2009 Descentralizado 4th best-placed non-finalist | |||
| Uruguay | Peñarol (Uruguay 1) | 2009–10 Primera División champion | ||
| River Plate (Uruguay 2) | 2009–10 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-finalist | |||
| Defensor Sporting (Uruguay 3) | 2009–10 Primera División 3rd best-placed non-finalist | |||
 Venezuela | Caracas (Venezuela 1) | 2009 Copa Venezuela champion | ||
| Trujillanos (Venezuela 2) | 2009 Copa Venezuela runner-up | |||
| Deportivo Lara (Venezuela 3) | 2009–10 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-finalist |
The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw. All events occurred in 2010 unless otherwise stated. Dates in italics are only reference dates for the week the matches are to be played. The draw for this tournament took place on April 28 in Luque at the CONMEBOL Conventions Center.[2] [3]
| Event | Start date | End date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | April 28 | ||
| First Stage | August 3 | September 2 | |
| Second Stage | August 4 | September 23 | |
| Round of 16 | September 28 | October 21 | |
| Quarterfinals | October 27 | November 11 | |
| Semifinals | November 17 | November 25 | |
| Finals | December 1 | December 8 | |
The tournament is played as a single-elimination tournament, with each round played as two-legged ties.At each stage of the tournament teams receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine which team advances to the next round:[4]
See main article: 2010 Copa Sudamericana preliminary stages. The first two stages of the competition are the First Stage and Second Stage. Both stages are largely played concurrent to each other.
In the First Stage, 16 teams played two-legged ties (one game at home and one game away) against another opponent. The winner of each tie advanced to the Second Stage. Team #1 played the second leg at home. The stage began on August 3 and ended on September 2.|-|}
In the Second Stage, 22 teams, along with eight winners from the First Stage, played two-legged ties (one game at home and one game away) against one another. The winner of each tie advanced to the round of 16. Team #1 played the second leg at home. The stage began on August 4 and ended on September 23.
|-|}
See main article: 2010 Copa Sudamericana final stages. Teams from the Round of 16 onwards will be seeded depending on which Second Stage tie they win (i.e. the winner of Match O1 will have the 1 seed).
Note: The bracket was adjusted according to the rules of the tournament so that the two Brazilian teams would face each other in the semifinals.
The round of 16 began on September 28 and ended on October 21. Fifteen teams advanced to the Round of 16 from the Second Stage. LDU Quito, as the defending champion, entered directly into this stage and carries seed O8. In each tie, the team with the higher seed (Team #1) played at home in the second leg.
|-|}
The quarterfinals began on October 27 and ended on November 11. In each tie, the team with the higher seed (Team #1) played at home in the second leg.
|-|}
The semifinals began on November 17 and ended on November 25. Should two or more teams from a same country reach the semifinals, they were going to be forced to face each other. In each tie, the team with the higher seed (Team #1) played at home in the second leg.
|-|}
See main article: 2010 Copa Sudamericana Finals. In the finals, if the finalists are tied on points after the culmination of the second leg, the winner is the team who scored the most goals. If they are tied on goals, the game moves onto extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule does not apply in the finals. The team with the higher seed played at home in the second leg.----
| Pos[5] | Player | Team | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=1 | 1 | Rafael Moura | Goiás | 8 |
| align=center rowspan=1 | 2 | Rodrigo Mora | Defensor Sporting | 6 |
| align=center rowspan=3 | 3 | Marcos Assunção | Palmeiras | 4 |
| Roberto Galindo | Universitario de Sucre | 4 | ||
| Ángel Vildozo | Unión San Felipe | 4 | ||
| align=center rowspan=9 | 6 | Hernán Barcos | LDU Quito | 3 |
| Mauro Formica | Newell's Old Boys | 3 | ||
| Luan | Palmeiras | 3 | ||
| Wilder Medina | Deportes Tolima | 3 | ||
| Obina | Atlético Mineiro | 3 | ||
| Facundo Parra | Independiente | 3 | ||
| Joao Rojas | Emelec | 3 | ||
| Juan Manuel Salgueiro | LDU Quito | 3 | ||
| Andrés Silvera | Independiente | 3 | ||